An explosion rocked Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru on Friday, March 1, leaving at least nine individuals injured. The incident was captured on the CCTV cameras installed inside the cafe, providing crucial footage for investigating the blast. Karnataka Chief Minister CM Siddaramaiah stated that CCTV footage revealed a person placing a bag in the cafe and dismissed the possibility of a gas leak. "It was not a high-intensity blast but an improvised one," he remarked to reporters at the scene. The injured, including cafe staff, have been transferred to a nearby hospital for treatment.
The blast occurred at the popular city eatery, located in a bustling area of Bengaluru. The CCTV footage reveals the intense impact of the explosion, causing significant damage to the cafe and injuring several patrons and staff members present at the time.
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"At 1:08 pm today, the fire department received a call regarding an LPG leakage fire in the cafe. Upon arrival, our officers found no fire or flame. An explosion occurred from a bag lying behind a woman seated with six other customers," stated TN Shivashankar, Director of the Karnataka State Fire and Emergency Services department to PTI.
Bengaluru South MP Tejaswi Surya, earlier on social media, labelled the incident a "clear case of a bomb blast." He cited a conversation with the cafe's founder, Sri Nagaraj, who explained that the explosion occurred due to a bag left by a customer. Surya emphasized the need for clarity from CM Siddaramaiah regarding the incident.
"Just spoke to Rameshwaram Café founder Sri Nagaraj about the blast in his restaurant. He informed me that the blast occurred because of a bag that was left by a customer and not any cylinder explosion. One of their employees is injured. It’s seems to be a clear case of bomb blast. Bengaluru demands clear answers from CM Siddramaiah," Surya wrote on X, formerly Twitter.